Saturday, August 22, 2009

Anna KondaThe fire fighting snake robotAnna Konda was developed in order to demonstrate the SnakeFighter concept. The robot is to our knowledge the biggest and strongest snake robot in the world and also the first water hydraulic snake robot ever constructed.

Embedded control systemMicrocontrollers (AVR ATmega128) are used to control the motion of the joints of Anna Konda. A communication bus through the robot allows for communication between the microcontrollers and a dedicated controller in the head of the robot (the brain). The brain can communicate with an external computer through a wireless connection based on Bluetooth. This allows the robot to be remotely controlled by an operator.http://www.sintef.no/Home/Information-and-Communication-Technology-ICT/Applied-Cybernetics/Projects/Our-snake-robots/Anna-Konda--The-fire-fighting-snake-robot/

Robot spycan survive battlefield damageBentley and his colleague Siavash Haroun Mahdavi borrowed a trick from evolution to allow their robot to adapt to damage. The snakebot is made up of modular vertebral units that "snap" together to form a snake-like body (see graphic). Each unit contains three separate "muscles" running down its length. The muscles are made out of wires of a shape-memory alloy called nitinol, an alloy of nickel and titanium whose crystal structure shrinks when an electric current is applied to it. Usefully, it regains its original shape and length once the current is removed. To make the snakebot move in a particular direction, a current is applied to certain wires. When the current is removed, the wires spring back and the robot will jump forward.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4075

SnakebotSnakebots that are being developed will be able to independently dig in loose extraterrestrial soil, are smart enough to slither into cracks in a planet's surface, and are capable of planning routes over or around obstacles

Sea snakes live in water, and even terrestrial snakes sometimes show swimming on water surface. In fact, the mechanism of snakes’ propulsion is almost same both in water and on ground. An amphibious snake-like robot ACM-R5 (Fig. 1) takes advantage of this fact. It can operate both on ground and in water undulating its long body (Fig. 2, Fig. 3).

The joint of ACM-R5 consists of an universal joint and bellows (Fig 4). It was developed on the basis of the previous model HELIX, which was designed for research of spirochete-like helical swimming. An universal joint plays a role of bones, and bellows do a role of an integument. ACM-R5 can form a smooth shape due to this joint structure, and it is important for effective locomotion. To be precise, the universal joint has one passive twist joint at the intersection point of two bending axis to prevent mechanical interference with bellows.

http://www-robot.mes.titech.ac.jp/robot/snake/acm-r5/acm-r5_e.html

Robot Snake Vedio

Cool Robot SnakeI want one of these! THINK IT'S FAKE? Check out Dr. Gavin Miller's site... http://www.snakerobots.com/... This is the S5 version of S1 thru S7. We HAVE the technology! Some of you younger puppies